Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Super Duck in "3-D Jeebies!"

Between 1944 and 1959, Archie Comics published ninety-four issues of Super Duck, originally a parody of superheroes, but after the third issue the series became simply an anthropomorphic/funny animal humor book. Super Duck had appeared earlier than his own self-titled series, in the Jolly Jingles anthology (which had taken over the numbering of the even earlier, Jackpot Comics). "3-D Jeebies" is from the 1954 issue of Super Duck #55 [Thanks, Steve]. I will also have a couple more Super Duck shorts to pass along in the days to come.Enjoy!

How it all began ....

In 1933, publishers at Eastern Color Press, intent to make better use of their printing equipment (which frequently sat idle between jobs), came up with the idea of printing an 8-page comic section that could be folded down from the large broadsheet to a smaller 9-inch by 12-inch format. The result was the first modern comic book. Containing reprints of newspaper comic strips, this experimental comic book titled "Funnies On Parade" was given away for free. It proved so popular that the following year Eastern published "Famous Funnies" and took the bold step of selling the comic for ten cents through chain stores. The enterprise was a smashing success and Eastern began churning out numerous reprints on a monthly basis. Other publishers, eager to get in on the profits, jumped on the bandwagon and the comic book industry was born!